


This Year

by OrangeAxolotl



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Asexual Character, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hellfire is a good party jam and I STAND by this., I meant to write and post this in January. Whoops., Jon is a Disaster, Karaoke, M/M, Mechanisms!Jon, Mutual Pining, New Year's Eve, Pre/Early Season 1, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23553637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeAxolotl/pseuds/OrangeAxolotl
Summary: Was she? God, oh no. Jon did not want to have to deal with a person who was wanting to... Go home with him or anything. And...oh fuck. He’d bought her a drink! And he said she had a nice voice! He wouldn’t be able to deliver on that; he was just trying to be nice! Fuck being nice!“Listen, um, would you mind coming back and meeting my friends? Some of them are Mechs fans too and that’d be really cool. Won’t take long, and you don’t have to if you have some friends of your own to get back to or something.”“No, ah, it’s fine. I’d love to. I’m just here with my coworkers.” He paused. Wait. Was this an attempt to get him alone or something? “And my partner!” He blurted out before he could change his mind.His completely imaginary partner.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Minor Tim Stoker/Sasha James
Comments: 44
Kudos: 690





	This Year

The bar was crowded and loud and Jon was squished into the corner of the booth right between Sasha and a complete stranger.

He wasn't. 100% sure how he'd gotten here. Tim had invited him out for New Year's drinks with the other archival assistants, and Jon had, of course, staunchly refused, citing some prior engagement(a lie). And the next thing he knew he was here, jammed into a seat that smelled strongly of beer.

"Excuse me," he choked out as the stranger next to him scooted even closer to let their friend sit down on their other side, gripping the edge of the table and clambering over Sasha's lap. He just had to get away from that. For at least a little bit. She sent him a baleful look, silently begging him not to leave her with these strangers. Sorry Sasha.

He was barely out of that situation when Tim materialized by his side like some sort of eldritch party spectre. "Hey boss, glad you could make it!" He tooted on a little noisemaker he'd somehow acquired. "Have you gotten anything to drink yet?"

"No," Jon said stiffly. A bit too stiffly for Tim's taste apparently, as Tim was now placing a hand on his back and steering him towards the bar.

"First one's on me!" He said brightly. "Unless you don't drink?"

"No, I do. On occasion." Jon wrung his hands. "One drink."

"Awesome! Did you come with Sasha, cause I haven't seen her yet."

"Yes, ah, she's still over there-" Jon cut himself off as Sasha spotted them and abandoned the booth, hurrying over.

"There you are Tim! Did you pick the most crowded bar in London? I couldn't find you, I thought I had the wrong one!"

"It's a possibility." Tim shrugged. "Their karaoke is definitely worth it though."

"Buy me a drink and I'll forgive you."

"Of course!" Tim hooked his arm in Sasha's as they reached the bar, leaving Jon pushing down some sort of feeling at the sight.

They ordered as quickly as they could manage, and Tim led them to a corner that was, thankfully, a little bit quieter than the rest of the bar. Martin was there, hands wrapped around his drink. He looked a bit lonely, but visibly brightened when he spotted the three of them approaching. He moved over, and Sasha and Tim took the other side of the table, leaving Jon to sit next to Martin.

"Nice to see you, Jon." Martin smiled.

Jon gave a little grunt of acknowledgement, taking a long drink of his cider to avoid having to respond.

"Who's going to sing with me?" Tim asked, leaning forward expectantly.

"Me!" Sasha immediately piped up, bouncing a little in her seat in excitement. 

"Hell yeah!" Tim turned an expectant eye onto Martin and Jon. Martin flushed and shook his head no vigorously.

Jon stared at Martin with vaguely narrowed eyes. A shame. He'd always imagined Martin having a lovely singing voice and it would have been nice to see if he was right.

Hm.

"I will sing if Martin does." Jon raised his eyebrows at Martin, who looked vaguely mortified. And a little torn, to be honest.

“I... sorry, I’d rather not.” Martin stared down at his lap, blushing.

Jon sighed, then shrugged. “Just as well. I’m not very good at singing.”

“Oh, you two are boring!” Sasha exclaimed, then hooked her elbow in Tim’s. “Let’s go get signed up!” And the two of them raced over to the sign-up table together.

Jon stared at Martin for a bit, who stubbornly avoided his gaze. Oh well. He took another sip of his drink.

* * *

Jon was just starting to get comfortable (and a little tipsy. The two were related) when a voice rang across the pub, singing acapella. He'd been trying to filter out most of the karaoke because, while he did enjoy music, hours of bad singing from strangers wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. But he'd know this song anywhere. Hell, he helped write this song.

"When the Red Rose, it comes a-marchin',"

Jon stood up immediately, smacking his hip on the table. He ignored it. "Excuse me." He didn’t even look at his companions as he quickly walked away, towards the stage. The beat had dropped and the song had started in earnest by the time he'd pushed his way to the edge of the stage, and he looked up at the person singing his song.

Logically, he knew that it was a possibility. They had recorded karaoke tracks of a few of their songs and sold them for a quick buck. They were in uni, after all, and desperately needed the money. And, while they'd never been super popular, they had their fans. But still. Seeing someone singing her heart out to one of his songs in a random pub on New Years Eve was. Strange. It was nice! But weird as all hell. 

She wasn’t that bad at singing, either. And she knew the song well, and kept up with the speed admirably. He tapped his foot to the beat, even quietly joining in for the harmonies, and applauded as she finished. She was grinning and breathing heavily as she stepped confidently away from the stage, heading towards the bar. Jon watched her go, worrying at his lip, then...ah what the hell. He ducked around a broad man and slid up next to her at the bar.

“You got some real fuckin’ nerve showing me up at my own song like that,” he growled, leaning against the counter, sliding back into that old band persona, glancing cooly up and down at her.

She turned, face scrunched a little in confusion, staring at him a little blankly.

Jonny held out his hand self-importantly. “Jonny D’Ville, captain of the starship Aurora.”

She stared a moment longer, then her eyes widened in recognition and her face flushed immediately. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again and said smally: “first mate.”

Jon snorted and let himself smile. “I never get any fucking respect.”

She laughed nervously, running a hand through her short hair, “Yeah, uhh...”

“You have a nice voice,” Jon said. “Thanks for singing a Mechs song, that’s never happened before.” He fiddled with his sleeve a bit. “I’ll buy you a drink as thanks?”

She bit her lip, glancing behind her, then nodded, “yeah. Thanks, uh, Jonny. Just whiskey please?”

Jon nodded, managing to flag down the bartender and order. He got a mimosa for himself. “Just Jon works. I’m. Not in character right now.” He was a fair bit more boring out of character, but he didn’t add that out loud. He wanted to make a good impression on a fan. “What’s, um, your name?”

“Lou.”

“That’s a. Good name.” Jon tapped at the counter awkwardly. Fuck. “W-which album is your favorite?”

“Camelot!” Lou jumped at the opportunity to fill his silence, thank god. “It’s just. Very good! It’s just so deliberate? You can tell there’s a lot of thought put into the setting and the characters, and I know it’s based off Arthurian legends so there’s a lot to work from there, but the way you adapted them is just. So creative, and gave a lot of representation and twisted the myths in a really cool way! Plus it’s got such a distinctive sound? W-which all the albums do, but Camelot’s is so rooted and thematic that it really pops out.”

She had. Very clearly had a similar conversation before. Maybe a few times. Jon was rather taken aback, to be honest. His face was a little warm too. It was very nice to think that Camelot had inspired such deep thoughts for her.

“And all the songs are just really amazing? Hellfire’s my favorite. Like...it’s just fucking awesome. Plus the way your voice sounds is like...It’s so...hot? I guess is the word? It’s hard for me to, to articulate all my thoughts and reasons on why it’s my favorite song, but. The feral, insane yelling and desperation really, reaches me...It’s...very attractive? Hot? God, this is embarrassing to say.” She buried her face in her hands. “It’s. It’s hardcore and just. So enticing and. Gets me fired up. I guess are my words. That I’m saying. With my mouth.”

Wait.

Fuck. 

Was she? God, oh no. He did not want to have to deal with a person who was wanting to... Go home with him or anything. And...oh fuck. He’d bought her a drink! And he said she had a nice voice! He wouldn’t be able to deliver on that; he was just trying to be nice!

The bartender chose that moment to arrive with their drinks, and Jon drained half his glass immediately. Thank god.

“A-are you okay?” Lou asked, brow knitting a bit.

“Yeah!” Jon gave her a strained smile. “I’m fine, I’m just. Surprised that you’ve thought so much about it. I really like Camelot as well, singing so many characters was challenging, and the range was fun.”

Lou nodded, tapping her nails on her glass. “Listen, um, would you mind coming back and meeting my friends? Some of them are fans too and that’d be really cool. Won’t take long, and you don’t have to if you have some friends of your own to get back to or something.”

“No, ah, it’s fine. I’d love to. I’m just here with my coworkers.” He paused. Wait. Was this an attempt to get him alone or something? “And my partner!” He blurted out before he could change his mind.

Lou sighed heavily. “Oh thank god,” she said. “I, ah, honestly thought you were coming onto me and I had no idea how to say I’m gay as hell.”

Jon blinked. Oh. Oh no.

She noticed him staring and puffed up a bit. “Got a girlfriend too!”

“Oh, no, that’s not...I believe you. Of course.” Jon stammered. “It’s just. I thought you were, uh. Yeah.”

Lou put a hand to her face and groaned. “God, I’m so sorry. I’m not. Really used to stuff like this?” 

Neither was he. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Lou laughed a little. “Uhh, you can bring your partner over too if you want? My friends are cool.”

“Sure.” 

Why did he have to say that. 

Jon glanced around the bar, searching for Sasha or Tim. Where the hell-oh god there they were. Jon very pointedly averted his eyes from that particular corner of the room, and of course. Who else would his gaze fall on in that moment? He took a deep breath, steeling himself, then, clutching his drink tightly, weaved through the crowd towards the solitary Martin, sitting and staring idly at his phone.

Jon reached him and, leaning over, wrapped an arm around Martin’s (who immediately went stiff as a board) neck and leaned close to his ear. “Please, please play along.” 

“Wh-what?” Martin asked. “What’s going on? I guess?”

He stood up again, and, grabbing Martin’s hand, tugged him across the pub back to the table Lou was now sitting at, which was filled with three other people.

He nodded at Lou as they approached, then turned to Martin, still clutching tightly to his hand. “Martin, this is Lou. She’s a fan of my old uni band. Lou, this is Martin. My boyfriend.”

Martin started, glancing over at Jon with wide eyes, then gave Lou and her friends an awkward little wave. “Hullo.”

“Howdy,” Lou said, then indicated the woman on her right. “This is Lily. My girlfriend. And that’s, uhh, Jules and Ike.”

“Pleasure.” Jon nodded.

“You’re shorter than I expected.” Jules said, and yelped when Lou swatted them on the arm.

Jon gave them a pointed, unimpressed look. “Thank you,” he said dryly.

“Nah, it’s a compliment. Love me a short king.”

Jon nearly choked. Thankfully he was saved by the man-- Ike- cutting in.

"D'you mind if we get a picture?"

Or maybe not saved. "What?"

"With you, I mean. It's okay if you don't-"

"No, ahh." Jon trailed off, a little dazed. This was… "It's fine, I suppose. I'm just. Okay. Just. Please don't touch me." He might actually die if someone tried putting an arm around him or something.

"Yeah, of course. D'you mind taking it, Martin?"

There was some awkward shuffling around as the four of them crowded around Jon and handed a phone to Martin. Jon tried to smile, but the skin on his back was crawling at the close contact and it probably came off as more of a pained grimace. It was over with quickly though, and Jon was able to extract himself from the strangers and crawl back to the relative safety of Martin. He was never doing that again.

“So, Jon.” Lily leaned over. “To be honest, I’ve never really. Sat down and listened to any Mechanisms songs, beyond what these guys have forced me to listen to. Are you going to be singing at any point tonight?”

“I, er, I wasn’t planning to.” Jon stammered, thinking about just how overjoyed Tim would be.

“I think you should.” Martin butt in hastily. Jon shot a subtle glare at him, but Martin just caught his gaze and raised his eyebrows.

“I-okay.” Jon sighed, then stood up, grabbing Martin by the wrist. “Help me choose a song, Martin.” He practically hauled him towards the sign-up sheet.

“Do you-do you mind letting me in on what the hell you’re doing?!” Martin asked.

Jon breathed in heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I-I thought she was coming onto me and I panicked! I said I had a partner and I would have asked Sasha or Tim for help but they had to be off in the corner snogging each other and I just…” He screwed up his face in frustration. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin your night. I can leave or something, and you can...flirt, or snog, or whatever else people do with any man you please.”

“I-it’s okay Jon!” Martin said. “I don’t mind, I, uh, wasn’t doing much flirting or snogging before, if you didn’t notice. I’ll help out. It might even be fun!” He tried smiling, but it immediately fell at Jon’s stony face. “Sorry.”

Jon sighed. “No, it’s alright. Thank you.” He looped his arm through Martin’s before he could talk himself out of it, and began flipping through the book of available songs with his other hand. “You should also know that I sang for a. Mildly successful band in uni. Lou is, ah, a fan. She sang one of our songs. That’s why I spoke to her.”

“I...okay!” Martin squeaked, and Jon glanced over, frowning a bit.

“Are you alright?” Jon asked. “Your face is flushed, have you had too much to drink?”

“Haha yeah that must be it!” Martin tightened his grip at their linked elbows.

Jon reached the M’s and began tracing down the page, looking for the available Mechs songs. Okay. Not a bad selection. Quite a few of his solos, actually. None of the eldritch invocations though, unfortunately. Still.

“Hullo,” he waved over one of the hosts, “could you put down, ehm, Jonny D’Ville for Hellfire by the Mechanisms?”

“Jonny D’Ville?” Martin whispered.

“It was my stage name, be quiet!”

“You had a stage name.”

“Of course I did! I was studying academia, I didn’t exactly want the name Jonathan Sims forever associated with a space pirate band!”

“Space pirates?”

Jon squinched up his face. “Ones that told stories. I’m not-I’m not ashamed. It’s just. Not the sort of thing that gets you taken seriously in an academic institution.”

“I mean-” Martin floundered for a moment. “Okay you have a point. But also it’s, uh, pretty cool, I think. It’s nice--knowing you actually have a life outside of work.”

Really? Jon gave him a Look.

“I mean!” Martin went red. “You’re not really-I never would have-I like learning about the things people I know are passionate about! It just...seems like something you really enjoyed.”

Jon stared at him a few moments longer, then gave a small shrug. “Yeah. It was fun. Let’s go back.” He took Martin’s hand to tug him back towards the table, resolutely trying to ignore the smile he was sure was plastered all over Martin's face.

* * *

Lou and her friends were actually quite nice to drink with, when they weren't crowded around almost touching him. They were good conversation, and it was all much more pleasant than being tucked into a booth with a Tim and Sasha macking all over each other next to a quiet Martin, at least.

And Martin was. Surprisingly good at this charade. Almost worryingly so. He was still as quiet and slightly awkward as ever, but he answered questions politely, and even when Lily had asked them how they’d gotten together and Jon was at a loss for words, he slid in smoothly with an “oh, just through work. Dragged him to get lunch in the canteen a few times, then I asked him out to dinner proper.” He placed a hand gently over Jon’s on the table, shooting him a questioning look out of the corner of his eye as if to ask “is this okay?”

Jon just nodded his agreement, swallowing and not trusting himself to add on or clarify any bit of that statement. His hand felt like it was burning. “Wh-what about you two?”

“Oh! Um!” Lily and Lou looked at each other.

“Next up is...Jonny D’Ville, singing Hellfire by The Mechanisms!”

“Oh you better get up there!” Lou said quickly.

“Yes, I suppose-” Jon stood, swaying a bit. Oh dang. Maybe he’d had. A bit more to drink than he originally thought. But he walked up to the stage and took the mic from the host, holding it loosely. The weight was good and familiar in his hands, and he smiled thinly, before propping up his foot on the chair.

“My friends, my people, my flock!”

Hellfire had always been one of his favorites. Gallahad was an easy character to get into, and the intensity of the song was always so goddamn cathartic. Fire and brimstone and just….

“No! The only way to save us now is the Holy Grail itself!” And he let out a belting cackle, leaning forward and letting his gaze rake over the bar patrons, and oh look-there was Tim, staring at him with an expression somewhere between shock and elation.

Jon just threw a wink at him. “You’re quite correct to quiver, you are right to quail!”

And maybe, just maybe, the song was over a little too soon, and god he didn’t want to leave and-he handed the mic back to the host with no small bit of reluctance, before heading back to the table with Martin and the others, grinning broadly. Martin stood as he approached, then sat down just as quickly.

“Hey BOSS? What the FUCK?”

Jon leaned back, looking over at Tim and Sasha as they approached.

“You said you couldn’t sing!” Sasha cried.

“Ah, did I?” Jon asked. Then hummed. “I lied.”

Martin burst into giggles next to him.

“You’ve got no excuse not to do a duet now!” Tim grabbed Jon’s arm. “The two of us? Unstoppable! Everyone in the pub will fall in love with us! You’ll be able to go home with anyone you’d like!”

Jon yanked his arm out of Tim’s grasp, his face heating. God, the idea- “T-Tim!” He snapped, glancing over at Martin. He looked lost, with wide eyes and trying to shake his head subtly at Tim. Then his eyes drifted towards Lou and her friends, who were watching with looks of confusion. “I’m...I’m quite happy how I am, thank you!” He leaned against Martin, silently begging Tim to drop it.

Tim’s gaze flicked between his face and Martin’s, and Jon barely held back a pained groan. “Ohh, alright. I get it, Boss.” He clapped Jon on the shoulder. “You’re still gonna have to tell me where you learned to sing. And what “Jonny D’Ville” is all about.”

“You’re going to have to introduce us to your new friends too!” Sasha cut in as she snagged an open chair from a nearby table and squeezed it in next to Jon. She smiled at Lou’s friends. “Hi, I’m Sasha. I work with these two.” She oofed slightly as Tim, apparently being unable to find a chair of his own, just perched on her lap and flung an arm over her shoulders. Then just sighed and wrapped her arms around him to steady him.

Jon instinctively glanced over at Martin, then resolutely looked in the opposite direction, face burning. That would be going a bit far for a simple charade. He ended up crossing his arms on the table and resting his chin on them, content for the moment to check out for a bit and merely listen to the conversation around him. Tim had the ability to take command of almost any conversation and draw peoples’ attention: an ability that Jon was extremely grateful for right now. 

“Are you alright?”

Jon glanced up at Martin through his bangs, then breathed out heavily, arching his back as he stretched. “Little tired,” he admitted. He raised his head and grabbed his glass, draining the rest of it. “What’s the time?”

Martin checked his phone. “Just a few minutes to midnight.”

Almost 2016, he meant.

“Last song of the year, folks! Feel free to sing along.”

Jon raised his head and propped it up on his hand, staring at the stage and the host as she raised the mic to her mouth as the music started.

“I broke free on a Saturday morning, I put the pedal to the floor,”

Jon tapped his toes on the floor, humming along as the voices of the people around him rose with the lyrics.

“My broken house behind me and good things ahead,”

And oh. Martin was singing as well and Jon had been right. He did have a wonderful voice.

“Ready for the bad things to come,”

Jon stood up and onto his toes, craning his neck so he could more clearly see the small telly above the bar. The countdown being streamed from outside was reaching a crescendo as they entered the final minute, and the atmosphere inside the bar was no less excited.

“I am going to make it through this year, if it kills me!”

And the karaoke hosts had timed it, so well, that as the song faded out they went into the final countdown and Jon, tipsy and a little bit giddy and feeling lighter than he had in ages, joined in.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!”

Lou shoved a glass of champagne in front of him and he grabbed it, holding it tightly.

“Seven! Six! Five! Four!”

A familiar presence at his side caused him to look up at Martin, who noticed him looking and returned the gaze with a small smile. Martin gently bumped Jon’s hip with his own, and Jon returned the gesture, swaying a bit.

“Three! Two! One!”

And the crowd around them erupted in cheers and clapping and people exchanging kisses and Jon stared at Martin and Martin stared at Jon and they held each other’s gaze for a long moment, before Jon turned away and swigged down the contents of his champagne flute. He set it down on the table a bit shakily, then grabbed his coat from the back of his chair, holding it over one arm as he waited for things to calm down a bit and for his group to settle back down to their seats.

“I think, um, that I’m going to head out now.” Jon cleared his throat. “It’s been a lovely evening, I’ve, um, enjoyed meeting you.” He gave a little nod to Lou and her friends. “But I’m getting a little tired so I’m going to try and grab a cab home while I still can.” He began shrugging his coat on.

There was a chorus of goodbyes from everyone at the table, but Martin stood up again quickly. “I’ll, um, keep you company.”

Jon paused, then nodded. “Thank you, Martin.” The two of them slowly shuffled out of the pub, trying to avoid being shoved too much, and then they were waiting on the curb outside among a much sparser crowd that hurried their separate ways or waited for their cabs or their ubers. It had begun to snow while they were in the pub, and white flakes clumped on railings and car roofs, stark against the dark greys and browns of the streets and buildings. They were quiet for a long time after Jon called a cab to pick him up, the silence heavy between them, until Jon felt like he had to break it.

“Martin, um.” Jon took a deep breath, staring at the ground between his feet. “Thank you, for tonight. You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s okay, Jon, really, I don’t-”

“Be quiet!” Jon snapped, then stopped himself, crossing his arms in front of his body. “Sorry. What I mean to say is that...I’m thankful, and, um.” He shifted a bit. “I feel guilty that you were sort of stuck by me all night and I don’t know how I can repay you, so. Well.” He glanced up at Martin. Snowflakes rested gently on his curls and his breath misted in front of his mouth. He was like a picture. Jon stretched up on his toes, planting one hand on his shoulder and cupping the other around the back of his neck, tugging him down into a soft kiss.

Martin stiffened, and for a brief moment Jon’s blood turned to ice. Oh fuck, this was a bad idea. Martin was going to...slap Jon or run screaming and Jon couldn’t exactly blame him for that! Then Martin relaxed, and opened his mouth to let Jon in.

The kiss was brief, and a few moments later Jon broke it and fell back on the soles of his feet. He kept his hands at Martin’s neck though, concentrating on straightening his collar so he wouldn’t have to look at his very red face. Or think about the flush he was sure was creeping across his own.

“I hope….that’s good enough.” Jon said, bringing his hands down and shoving them into his pockets. “It’s tradition, anyway.” He paused a moment, not really wanting to leave it at that but being unsure of where to go from here. Finally he just took a deep breath and quietly spoke as his ride pulled up at the curb. “Happy New Year, Martin.”

“...Happy New Year, Jon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lou was lying about having a girlfriend. She and Lily are pulling the fake dating trope too. I just didn't mention it cause it wasn't relevant to Harry's story.
> 
> You can talk to me on Tumblr @deepinthedirt


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